The United States federal government should end its embargo against Cuba.
The United States employs an outdated Cold War mentality to justify its continued isolation of Cuba. US Policy towards Cuba is a masked imperialism that frames Cubans as “stunted” and “underdeveloped” in order to impose its will upon their society, we have to recognize the silent racism that is running in the backdrop of US policy Schoultz 2010 (Lars Schoultz is the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “ Benevolent Domination,” Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Cuban Studies, Volume 41, Project Muse).
Benevolent Domination: The Ideology of U.S. Policy toward Cuba. Washington's hostile post–Cold War policy toward Cuba is...., according to Nancy Reagan, is: "You just give me the word and I'll turn that f——island into a parking lot."11
The US embargo on Cuba is an anti-humanitarian measure that the US imposes on Cuba at the expense of civilians in the name of profit and security interests. Strict secrecy standards enable the US to propagate starvation and poverty
Keith Bolender writes in his 2012 book “Cuba Under Siege”: “…There is ample evidence to suggest that America is enacting collective punishment … political leaders and non-governmental organizations, among others.”
And, it’s important to consider the human factor in policy decisions- the embargo has real costs for the people of Cuba- it’s a form of systemic suffering
Besides being counter-productive, there are also strong moral arguments for ending the embargo. From a utilitarian point of view, … more than half a century, continues to impose indiscriminate hardship on Cubans, and has failed to improve human rights in the country.” (2012 Report on Cuba)
Thus, my partner and I are resolved that: The United States federal government should end its embargo against Cuba.
Advantage One: Deprivation
The embargo is a form of oppression, the plan addresses our complicity and the complicity of the US government in exporting suffering to the Cuban people
DELIA **LLOYD** [Delia Lloyd is a writer based in London. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and The Financial Times. Previously,she worked as a producer at Chicago Public Radio and taught political science at the University of Chicago] August 24, 2010¶ Ten Reasons to Lift the Cuba Embargo¶ http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/08/24/ten-reasons-to-lift-the-cuba-embargo/
7. It's inhumane. If strategic arguments don't persuade you that it's time to end the embargo, then perhaps humanitarian arguments will…. with bucket-loads of basic medical supplies, which they promptly hand over to their (native) friends and family,it's hard not to feel that U.S. policy is perpetuating an injustice.
Removing the embargo solves – the blockade functions as a shield for political leaders and an alibi for strategic interests to justify any action, even actions at the expense of the people.
It’s hard to determine, with any degree of exactitude, to what extent the blockade, sorry, the embargo…heck, the blockade, affects the lives of the Cuban people. … to repress and discredit those who oppose the government, claiming that they are at the service of a foreign power? Who truly profits from the petition made by the Ladies in White?
Even Cuban dissidents have begun to support ending the embargo, the 1AC is a recognition that US policy is perpetuating inequality and poverty amongst the Cuban people
JAMILA AISHA BROWN ¶ Jamila Aisha Brown [a social entrepreneur, freelance writer, and political commentator. She is the founder of HUE, LLC, a progressive consultancy specializing in community-led projects and initiatives in the African diaspora]¶ Top of Form ¶ April 16, 2013 FOREIGN POLICY, POP CULTURE¶ El Momento Es Ahora –End the Cuban Embargo Now¶ http://www.cbcfinc.org/thevillage/?p=297
The Carters, rapper/mogul Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé, found themselves caught in an international controversy after vacationing on the communist island of Cuba for their fifth wedding anniversary.¶ … While visiting a school in Matanzas, Cuba that trains students to become art, music, and dance teachers in efforts to preserve Cuban culture, I was struck by the talent of this singer and composer who performed his song “El Momento Es Ahora” (The Moment Is Now). Indeed it is.
The history of Cuban/ US relations is one of securitization and falsely constructed epistemology. Cuba was used as the laboratory where US imperialism was “perfected” before being exported globally. The 1AC is a critical challenge to the way imperial thinking pervades US policy
Louis A. Pérez Jr. [J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History at University of North Carolina; Editor, Cuban Journal-M.A. University of Arizona,Ph.D. University of New Mexico] 2008¶ Cuba In the American Imagination-Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos [book, online]¶ Pp 1-11
Cuba occupies a special place in the history of American imperialism. It¶ has served as something of a laboratory for the development of the methods¶ by which the United States has pursued the creation of a global empire. In the¶ aggregate, the means used by the United States in Cuba constitute a microcosm¶…The people who readily endorsed the proposition¶ of beneficent duty as motive for armed intervention in Cuba in 1898¶would henceforth exercise power abroad as duty of beneficence. It was the¶ American way.
Prioritize the macro ethical stance of the 1AC over the incremental micro focus of the Neg’s Cps and Disads, the debate should be about crafting ethical responses in the face of suffering not what is politically expedient
Tony Smith [International & Comparative Politics Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science Ph.D., Harvard University, 1971]¶ Tufts University¶ Patrick J. Haney and Walt Vanderbush, The Cuban Embargo: The Domestic Politics of an American Foreign Policy.Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. 222 pp.¶ Journal of Cold War Studies 9.4 (2007) 140-142 [Project Muse]
What is lacking finally is a sense of the passion of ethnic politics. One may regret (as this reviewer does and as the authors of this book apparently do too) …. Haney and Vanderbush have done a workmanlike job, but this reviewer is left with the sense that if they had taken a broader perspective they could have lifted their study to a higher level.
The Affirmative is a prior question, don’t strictly evaluate body counts- instead your ballot should be a moral stand against policies that ignore human suffering for the “greater good”
Addis 2003 (Adeno Addis is William Ray Forrester Professor of Public and Constitutional Law at Tulane University Law School. “Economic Sanctions and The problem of evil”, Human Rights Quarterly 25.3 (2003) 573-623)
Other critics may concede that more often than not such measures would lead to the desired behavior modification, but at a cost that is often unacceptably high. Economic sanctions deprive citizens of the… sectors of the target state, as economic sanctions do, for an objective that does not involve the prevention of the deaths of other innocent persons.**15**
Utilitarian measures are justification for securing against race, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives the war machine and perpetuates such impacts
Ahmed 2011 Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRD), an independent think tank focused on the study of violent conflict, he has taught at the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex "The international relations of crisis and the crisis of international relations: from the securitisation of scarcity to the militarisation of society" Global Change, Peace and Security Volume 23, Issue 3, 2011 Taylor Francis, CMR
This analysis thus calls for a broader approach to environmental security based on retrieving the manner in which political actors construct discourses of 'scarcity' in response to ecological, energy and economic crises (critical security studies) …, the breakdown of prevailing norms, the formation of new exclusionary group identities, and the projection of blame for crisis onto a newly constructed 'outsider' group vindicating various forms of violence.
Sanctions are an excuse for the regime to perpetuate the injustices of the Cuban plight
Bandow 2012 (Doug Bandow, Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire, 12-11-12, “Time to End Cuba Embargo”, nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-pointless-cuba-embargo-7834
The policy in Cuba obviously has failed. The regime remains in power. Indeed, it has consistently used the embargo to justify its own mismanagement, blaming poverty on America…the "sanctions policy gives the government a good alibi to justify the failure of the totalitarian model in Cuba."
Sanctions are at the root for regime justification and crackdowns
Bandow 2012 (Doug Bandow, Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire, 12-11-12, “Time to End Cuba Embargo”, nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-pointless-cuba-embargo-7834
Today even the GOP is no longer reliable. For instance, though Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan has defended the embargo in recent years, that …President Obama should propose legislation to drop (or at least significantly loosen) the embargo. He also could use his authority to relax sanctions by, for instance, granting more licenses to visit the island.
Neg
Quarters
OFF
Link -- The spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures – the plan facilitates this spread
Mignolo 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]
Link --- Expanding globalization to Cuba is part of an imperial strategy to displace revolutionary potential in Cuba. The outcome of the expansion of globalization is environmental destruction and inequality – turns back the case
Bliss 2005 (Dr. Susan Bliss: Director of Global Education, 7/5/2005, “Sustainability of Modern Cuba’s post revolution globalisation process”,)
Impact -- The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The role of the ballot is to answer the question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009 (Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
ON
Econ
Drilling profits will be slow – not solve dependence or cutoff fears
Emily A. Peterson¶ Daniel J. Whittle, J.D.¶ and Douglas N. Rader, Ph.D¶ December 2012 “Bridging the Gulf¶ Finding Common Ground on Environmental and ¶ Safety Preparedness for Offshore Oil and Gas in Cuba”, http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/EDF-Bridging_the_Gulf-2012.pdf
Energy experts also note that examples from deep water exploratory drilling around the ¶ world demonstrate that it is not atypical to drill numerous dry or commercially unviable ¶ holes in new fields before a profitable discovery is found.24 Jorge Piñón, the former president ¶ of Amoco Oil Latin America and now an energy specialist at the University of Texas at Austin, ¶explained that economic discoveries often play out over a longer time horizon. “A lot of people¶have been very naïve in thinking that an oil-rich Cuba was going to materialize overnight, and ¶that is not the case,” Piñón said. “You don’t just turn the faucet on overnight.”25
No supply cutoff – new Venezuelan president is an ally
Peter Orsi 4/5 “Cuba avoids oil cutoff for now as Chavez ally narrowly wins Venezuela presidential election”, http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cuba+avoids+cutoff+Chavez+ally+narrowly+wins+Venezuela+presidential+election/8244434/story.html
Cubans were relieved Monday by the announcement that the late leader Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor had been elected Venezuela's new president, apparently allowing their country to dodge a threatened cutoff of billions of dollars in subsidized oil. Cuban President Raul Castro sent a congratulatory message to Nicolas Maduro,who is seen as anideological allywho will want to continue the countries' special relationship as he serves out the remainder of Chavez's six-year term. "The main thing from Cuba's point of view is that he's won, if it's ratified," said Paul Webster Hare, a lecturer in international relations at Boston University and former British diplomatic envoy to both Venezuela and Cuba. "They will probably be thinking that they now have perhaps a maximum of five years of Venezuelan subsidies left," Hare said, "because if the trend continues moving against him, as I think is likely, this will be the last term even if they are able to continue all the subsidies for that period. ... The clock's ticking for that relationship."
No impact to naval power
Tillman 9 (Barrett Tillman, Historian specializing in naval and aviation topics, 2009. U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings Magazine, “Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era,” http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/story.asp?STORY_ID=1896) In attempting to justify a Cold War force structure, many military pundits cling to the military stature of China as proof of a possible large conventional-war scenario against a pseudo-peer rival. Since only China possessesanything remotely approaching the prospect of challenging American hegemony—and only in Asian waters—Beijing ergo becomes the "threat" that justifies maintaining the Cold War force structure.China's development of the DF-21 long-range antiship ballistic missile, presumably intended for American carriers, has drawn much attention. Yet even granting the perfection of such a weapon, the most obvious question goes begging: why would China use it? Why would Beijing start a war with its number-two trading partner—a war that would ruin both economies?10 Furthermore, the U.S. Navy ownsnearly as many major combatants as Russia and China combined. In tonnage, we hold a 2.6 to 1 advantage over them. No other coalition—actual or imagined—even comes close. But we need to ask ourselves: does that matter? In today's world the most urgent naval threat consists not of ships, subs, or aircraft, but of mines-and pirates.11
Data disproves hegemony impacts
Fettweis, 11 Christopher J. Fettweis, Department of Political Science, Tulane University, 9/26/11, Free Riding or Restraint? Examining European Grand Strategy, Comparative Strategy, 30:316–332, EBSCO It is perhaps worth noting that there is no evidence to support a direct relationship between the relative level of U.S. activism and international stability. In fact, the limited data we do have suggest the opposite may be true. During the 1990s, the United States cut back on its defense spending fairly substantially. By 1998, the United States was spending $100 billion less on defense in real terms than it had in 1990.51 To internationalists, defense hawks and believers in hegemonic stability, this irresponsible “peace dividend” endangered both national and global security. “No serious analyst of American military capabilities,” argued Kristol and Kagan, “doubts that the defense budget has been cut much too far to meet America’s responsibilities to itself and to world peace.”52 On the other hand, if the pacific trends were not based upon U.S. hegemony buta strengthening norm against interstate war, one would not have expected an increase in global instability and violence.¶ The verdict from the past two decades is fairly plain: The world grew more peaceful while the United States cut its forces. No state seemed to believe that its security was endangered by a less-capable United States military, or at least none took any action that would suggestsuch a belief. No militaries were enhanced to address power vacuums, no security dilemmas drove insecurity or arms races, and noregional balancing occurred once the stabilizing presence of the U.S. military was diminished. The rest of the world acted as if the threat of international war was not a pressing concern, despite the reduction in U.S. capabilities. Most of all, the United States and its allies were no less safe. The incidence and magnitude of global conflict declined while the United States cut its military spending under President Clinton, and kept declining as the Bush Administration ramped the spending back up. No complex statistical analysis should be necessary to reach the conclusion that the two are unrelated.¶ Military spending figures by themselves are insufficient to disprove a connection between overall U.S. actions and international stability. Once again, one could presumably argue that spending is not the only or even the best indication of hegemony, and that it is instead U.S. foreign political and security commitments that maintain stability. Since neither was significantly altered during this period, instability should not have been expected. Alternately, advocates of hegemonic stability could believe that relative rather than absolute spending is decisive in bringing peace. Although the United States cut back on its spending during the 1990s, its relative advantage never wavered.¶ However, even if it is true that either U.S. commitments or relative spending account for global pacific trends, then at the very least stability can evidently be maintained at drastically lower levels of both. In other words, even if one can be allowed to argue in the alternative for a moment and suppose that there is in fact a level of engagement below which the United States cannot drop without increasing international disorder, a rational grand strategist would still recommend cutting back on engagement and spending until that level is determined. Grand strategic decisions are never final; continual adjustments can and must be made as time goes on. Basic logic suggests that the United States ought to spend the minimum amount of its blood and treasure while seeking the maximum return on its investment. And if the current era of stability is as stable as many believe it to be, no increase in conflict would ever occur irrespective of U.S. spending, which would save untold trillions for an increasingly debt-ridden nation.¶ It is also perhaps worth noting that if opposite trends had unfolded, if other states had reacted to news of cuts in U.S. defense spending with more aggressive or insecure behavior, then internationalists would surely argue that their expectations had been fulfilled. If increases in conflict would have been interpreted as proof of the wisdom of internationalist strategies, then logical consistency demands that the lack thereof should at least pose a problem. As it stands, the only evidence we have regarding the likely systemic reaction to a more restrained United States suggests that the current peaceful trends are unrelated to U.S. military spending. Evidently the rest of the world can operate quite effectively without the presence of a global policeman. Those who think otherwise base their view on faith alone.
Environment
1) The economic imbalances of societies are at the heart of environmental destruction and warfare, be skeptical of “natural” disasters, they exist as results of exploitation rather than divine happenings
Carey 09
(Mark Carey, assistant professor of history at Washington and Lee University where he teaches Latin American and environmental history. He won the 2008 ¶ Leopold-Hidy Prize for his article, "The History of Ice: How Glaciers Became an ¶ Endangered Species (Environmental History, July 2007), April 2009, “Latin American Environmental History: Current Trends, Interdisciplinary Insights, and¶ Future Directions”, Jstor, 7/6/13 SS, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40608469)
DISASTER SCHOLARS ARE AMONG the most prominent to blur nature-culture ¶ dichotomies, and this is a research area where historians have made important ¶ historiographical contributions. They underscore the social roots of catastrophe by demonstrating how marginalized populations suffer disproportionately when ¶ catastrophes occur. The same historical processes that make populations vulnerable ¶ to so-called "natural" disasters-such as race and class divisions or land and resource¶ loss- also contribute to warfare and revolutionary movements. Within nations and ¶ on a global scale, power imbalances and economic inequality are thus at the center of ¶ disasters and wars. Disaster studies in Latin America generally focus on earthquakes, floods, and ¶ weather-related catastrophes such as hurricanes, El Niño, and drought.77 Earthquake ¶ research tends to focus on single events, such as Lima in 1746, San Juan, Argentina in ¶ 1944, Huaraz, Peru in 1970, or Mexico City in 1985, among others.78 Scholars examining ¶ these earthquakes uncover not only the disaster impacts but also the politics of relief ¶ and reconstruction. Charles Walker, for example, argues that the 1746 earthquake- ¶ tsunami in Peru provided a clean slate for enlightened leaders to implement new ¶ reforms that challenged elite authority and reigning social hierarchies.79 Provocative ¶ studies on Caribbean hurricanes have unearthed both the social underpinnings of ¶ disaster vulnerability and the short- and long-term implications of disasters, such ¶ as Cuba's altered economy and closer relations with the United States following the ¶ three deadly 1840s hurricanes that Louis Pérez examines.80 El Niño scholarship has ¶ increasingly expanded beyond Peru to emphasize scientific, political, social, and even ¶ cultural aspects.81 ¶ Drought research is notable for its integration of climatic data into social analysis. ¶ Georgina Endfield links the changing climate to human vulnerability in colonial ¶ Mexico. This approach not only grounds her analysis in the social landscape of New ¶ Spain but also merges climate and water issues with disaster and agrarian studies. In a study of a recent El Niño event in Mexico, Hallie Eakin also focuses on household ¶ vulnerability to identify which regions, families, and communities were best (and least) ¶ able to adapt to extreme weather events. Both Eakin and Endfield demonstrate how ¶ climatic vulnerability was produced historically and stemmed from social, political, ¶ and economic conditions rather than simple "acts of God."82 Scholars have also studied ¶ drought in Northeast Brazil.83 While analyzing drought's profound impact on people, ¶ land, and livelihoods, they also analyze techno-scientific responses and the politics and ¶ discourse of disaster. Many of these studies increasingly probe the power dimensions of ¶ drought. Timothy Finan reveals how Brazilian elites manipulated drought discourse to ¶ accumulate wealth and power.84 Globally, Mike Davis suggests that millions died in late ¶ nineteenth century El Niño events-which generated drought in Brazil-because of the ¶ "fatal meshing of extreme events between the world climate system and the late Victorian ¶ world economy": western European imperial powers had taken control of local people's ¶ land and labor, and thus their ability to grow and procure food.85 Climatic disasters ¶ sometimes produced surprising historical changes, too. Glacier melting that triggered ¶ massive floods and avalanches in Peru also fostered new scientific studies, inspired ¶ innovative engineering projects, jump-started economic modernization campaigns, and ¶ provided platforms for fresh political agendas from within and beyond the Andes.86 ¶ Wars account for another type of disaster. And environmental analyses of war ¶ in Latin America, which tend to focus on post-i96os Central America, echo Davis's ¶ condemnations of the ways in which the global economy and geopolitics create ¶ vulnerable populations and cause disasters. In contrast to most environmental histories ¶ of warfare that examine the effects of weapons, science, technology, and military ¶ resource consumption, the small historiography on Latin America emphasizes the ¶ environmental dimensions leading to war as well as consequences.87 William Durham's ¶ analysis of the 1969 Honduras-El Salvador Soccer War illuminates the role of ecology ¶ and environmental conflicts. He shows how resource scarcity and land loss drove ¶ 300,000 Salvadorans to emigrate into an already strained situation in Honduras.88 ¶ Daniel Faber makes this point more broadly and emphatically, arguing that "Marxist ¶ and socialist theory should place the ecological crisis at the center of any analysis ¶ of revolution and imperialism in Central America."89 For Faber, capitalism produces ¶ multiple environmental effects that include warfare as well as the overexploitation ¶ of natural resources and the transformation of the peasantry from subsistence to the ¶ capitalist export sector. These social studies of warfare and disasters in Central America¶ link with more recent scholarship on environmental justice.90 They also point to the¶ importance of understanding social relations and power dynamics- the fundamentals ¶ of social history- inherent in past human-environment interactions’
2) Universal truth claims about the environment ignore particular histories and particular epistemologies which privileges the material world and colonizes both people and the environment in the sake of perfection – allowing more ecological destruction.
Molyneux and Steinberg 1995 [Maxine and Deborah Lynn, Mies and Shiva’s Ecofeminism: a new testament? Published Feminist Review Spring 1995 no. 49]
As the opening quote of this paper suggests, narratives are essential to the way we know and understand the world in which we live. That is, narratives describe the ontological structure of the world in which we live and provide guidelines for how we know that world.Epistemological and ontological foundations are often hidden in narratives. These hidden foundations within narratives deny differences and devalue the interrelated, ongoing process of all creation if the particularity of the narrative is forgotten. That is, their (ideal) epistemological claims lose touch with the (material) ontological context in which they are made. When knowledge claims no longer claim particularity, but universality, they deny their contextuality and claim a knowledge boundary beyond which no one can see and which must be assumed rather than critically engaged.2 They then lead to hegemonic knowledge claims that centralize knowledge, agency, and the capacity for truth in the claimer of an assertion.3 In other words, they idealize the material world and all life therein and colonize that world with their own truth claims.4 Both idealism and materialism are in this sense, “idealistic”: all reality is made to fit one, human, eco-socially located explanation. Or, put another way, both are reductionistic: they try to reduce all reality to a human idea(l). Contrarily, epistemological and ontological narratives that recognize the postfoundational, contextual nature of knowledge often recognize and respect differences and particularity precisely because they focus on the contexts of knowledge (thereby exposing “foundations” as partial rather than universal).5 These epistemologies are more conducive to knowledge claims about ontology that recognize agency (and thus value) in the other and lead to understandings of truth as a communicative and dialogical process (rather than a monological claim). That is, through a dialogical process, these claims remain open to the evolving material world and “others’” knowledge claims therein. They value both the material and the ideal aspects of life. Furthermore, by acknowledging the tentative nature between knowing and reality, these postfoundational knowledge claims require us to take responsibility for our knowledge assertions and our actions based on these knowledge assertions.6 These narratives, then, have implications for anthropology and ethics. Many postcolonial, feminist, mujerista, latina/o, womanist, and other critical discourses share in this form of epistemological/ontological respect of diversity and taking responsibility for knowledge claims. These critical discourses have uncovered the hidden assumptions about race, class, gender, in hegemonic narratives. Why, then, do I focus on social/ist ecofeminism?7 Social/ist ecofeminist epistemologies/ontologies inherently focus on the relationships among human beings (gender, race, class, etc.), and on the relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world. That is, they see humans as part of the rest of the natural world and not as an exception to the rest of the natural world. Although the ecofeminists whose work I examine can be grouped under the category of “social/ist” ecofeminism, they are by no means a homogeneous group of thinkers. What does unite them is a respect for the agential capacities and value of all life on the planet along with respect for the inherent diversity of life on the planet. Likewise, they claim that nature-culture, self-other, conscious-matter are co-constitutive, constructed categories. “A view of nature can be seen as a projection of human perceptions of self and society onto the cosmos. Conversely, theories about nature have historically been interpreted as containing implications about the way individuals or social groups behave or ought to behave.”8 For humans, there is no getting outside the textof nature-culture.9 These social/ist ecofeminists challenge foundationalism that asserts a one-to-one relationship between thought and reality, and nonfoundationalism that claims that all reality is made through language systems alone. “In layers of history, layers of biology, layers of natureculture, complexity is the name of our game.”10 Rather than a Platonic (and in many cases Christian) valuing of the ideal over the material or a physicalist reduction of the ideal to the material (which is also an idealism, if one considers that reality is idealmaterial), these ecofeminists assert that nature-culture, ideal-material, mindbody, spirit-flesh, are the starting points for reflection on the world in which we humans live. This is the exact type of starting point, for instance, that Rosemary Ruether suggests in the title (and content) of her book Gaia (earth/material) and God (ideal/prophetic).11 It is what I am referring to in this article as a social/ist ecofeminist eco-ontology. Far from being relativists, these ecofeminists argue that human beings must take responsibility for our beliefs about the world and the actions that ensue from those beliefs. Neither universality (a form of hyperidealism) nor relativity (also a form of hyperidealism) allow for this type of epistemic responsibility. “Relativism and totalization are both ‘god tricks’ promising vision from everywhere and nowhere equally and fully.”12 Both universality and relativity lead to a denial of the eco-social contextual subject. If one posits no “foundation,” then neither relativity nor universality makes any sense; rather, contextuality is the name of the game. For ecofeminists, the ecological is just as important as the social/historical when talking about epistemological locatedness: “There is no epistemic process to which we have access that is not a matter of embodiment within an ecological niche.”13
3) Russia currently already drilling off the Cuba Basin- exploration of 2013 proves
4) No drilling in the squo – all companies have bailed.
Then came promises of an oil boom and last week the predictable bust. The Brazilian state-owned Petrobras PETR4.BR +1.01% had given up on deep-sea drilling in Cuban waters in 2011. RepsolREP.MC -2.46% gave up in May2012. The deep water platform it was using was then passed to Malaysia's state-owned Petronas, which also came up empty. Venezuela's PdVSA had no luck either. In November Cuba announced that the rig that had been in use would be heading to Asia. Last weekcame the end of shallow-water drilling.
5) Cuban drilling is safe – access to technology and safety standards prove
Sadowksi 12 (Richard – Managing Editor of Production of the Journal of International Business and Law Vol. X, J.D Candidate at Hofstra University, “Cuban Offshore Drilling: Preparation and Prevention within the Framework of the United States’ Embargo”, 2012, http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=sdlp)
Fears that Cuban offshore drilling poses seriousenvironmental threats because of the proximity to the United States and the prohibition on U.S. technology transferare overblown. Cuba has at least as much incentive to ensuresafe-drilling practices as does theUnited States, and reports indicate that Cuba istaking safety seriously. 64 Lee Hunt, President of the Houston-based International Association of Drilling Contractors, said, “[t]he Cuban oil industry has put a lot of research, study and thought into what will be required to safely drill,” and that “they are very knowledgeable of international industry practicesand have incorporated many of these principles into their safetyandregulatory planning and requirements.” 65 Thus, while the economic embargo of Cuba restricts American technology from being uti - lized, foreign sources have providedsupplemental alternatives. 66
6) Even conservation biologists agree that species loss is slow and there's no impact
Starting in the early 1980s I published the above critical analysis of the standard extinction estimates. For several years these criticisms produced no response at all. But then in response to questions that I and others raised, the "official" IUCN (the World Conservation Union) commissioned a book edited by Whitmore and Sayer to inquire into the extent of extinctions. The results of that project must be considered amazing. All the authors - the very conservation biologists who have been most alarmed by the threat of species die-offs - continue to be concerned about the rate of extinction. Nevertheless, they confirm the central assertion; all agree that the rate of known extinctions has been and continues to be very low. I will tax your patience with lengthy quotations (with emphasis supplied) documenting the consensus that there is no evidence of massive or increasing rates of species extinction, because this testimony from the conservation biologists themselves is especially convincing; furthermore, if only shorter quotes were presented, the skeptical reader might worry that the quotes were taken out of context. (Even so, the skeptic may want to check the original texts to see that the quotations fairly represent the gist of the authors' arguments.)
Impact Framing
1. Trade is utilized by the Western powers to create financial dependency of other nations and force a colonial strategy upon those populations and embeds violence and racism in everyday political life.
Kanth 2005 [Rajani Kannepalli Kanth, Against Eurocentrism: A Transcendent Critique of Modernist Science, Society, and Morals 67-69]
The firearm, the printing press, paper, and the compass were to become the prime tools of Western domination of non-Western cultures; today, in thegolden era of neoliberalist finance, one might add onlycommerce and credit—that is, trade and financial dependency—as the other set of allied mechanisms. The simple, if ironic, fact that all of these were originally non-European inventions must be a sobering thought to those prone to genuflect before the putative superiority, and originality, of modernist science. It might also be noted that the (putative) absence of a compass did not inhibit navigation on the part of several non-European peoples who engaged in explorations not of necessity confluent with the motives of trade and conquest. It was not astate of mind, nor a penchant for reflection, that furthered the rapid development of European natural science(although the entire effort was located within the metaphysical matrix of anthropocentrism) but rather dire industrial necessity in the context of desperate international, and internecine, rivalry and war, features that have but little changed in the modern period where most research that is amply funded is still of the strategic kind. If one but adds commercial greed, to industrial need, then we effectively sum up the driving ethos—the colossal strengths and weakness—of European science. Salutary to note, in this regard, that neither Vedic wisdom, wherein science and ethics were combined, nor Buddhist or Jain explorations in mathematics, were either provoked by, or were concomitants of, conquest and accumulation but bore a purity of ardor and endeavor that has simply no modernist European equivalent leastways in the classical period of the Enlightenment (this does not mean that the later post-Vedic tradition did not inculcate philosophy as statecraft.. Kautilya's Arthashastra, in that regard, compares favorably with, if long prior to, Machiavelli's ideas). However, the new scientific outlook of the Enlightenment was not engendered unopposed and had to fight it way over the back of older traditions of science that were far more hospitable to humbler social needs and necessities, that is, they were not driven solely by greed or power. Much as the ideas of liberalism triumphed over church ideology by virtue not of better argument or better evidence, contrary to modernist legend, but the power of better organized force (as instanced in the politics of Galileo in success, and the lost crusade of the great Paracelsus, in failure), the new sciences simply expelled the old arts and pushed them to the outer margins of existence. Superior force, organization, and iron discipline were the redoubtable tools of European mastery, but even they, in themselves, may not have sufficed to effect the supreme dominance that is visible today in all corners of the world (excepting China, which remains the least Europeanized of any modernist social formation) were this force not to be supplemented with a philosophy of domination that, to this day, has no pareil in the history of human endeavors. Non-European empires, faced with the European peril, had to learn the hard way that guns without arguments almost fail to fire altogether. Somewhere in the Renaissance, Europe possessed itself of such an inexorable ideology, a veritable manifest, of conquest of all things—and peoples. The very spirit of the ruling European (and his North-American counterparts) today is informed with this wantonly conquistadorean, carpetbagging, temper, still seeking gullible subjects cum consumers, wherever possible, still seeking to take without giving, to rule without consent, ready to cheat on treaties, renege on friends, and exact from the weak and the helpless.The craven U.S. invasion of Grenada, infamous act of state piracy apart, where the mightiest force on earth trampled on the poorest little island imaginable, and then awarded themselves a glittering gallery of medals—more than one medal each for every soldier, sailor, and marine landed (and many who never landed incidentally)—can convey but a very small appreciation of just how far from even the very simplest norms of morality European "civilization" has traversed in but a few centuries (equally linear and unbroken is the red line of infamy that connects the atrocities of the Europeans in Africa and the technology driven savagery of Americans in Vietnam). Indeed, the very word itself today has no readily agreed upon meaning or significance in modernist society—just as similarly, economics, the ruling logos of modernism, has no place for, and comprehension of, the idea of fairness or justice, terms which are literally meaningless within that discourse. With the destruction of normative ties, the social basis of morality erodes and becomes privatized (small wonder that the U.S. Supreme Court deems, with much relief, morality a local, community resource subject to local adjudications and alterations of fashioris). Morality, like ethics, becomes merely an option, among many choices, for the ordinary person, to be exercised when it involves the least cost to the practitioner; like faith, its close country cousin, it has become effectively dispensable, and quite sub-optimal, as a workable code for conduct. Once again, the United States (where bad guys win with a grim, degrading, monotony), the most degenerately advanced in these directions, is living testimony to the simple rectitude of these propositions, whose truth is confirmable by simple, direct observation alone.
In contrast to the liberal arguments, realists have argued that in an anarchic world in which states are solely concerned with preserving their existence, the more interactions among states there are, the higher the likelihood of conflict (Mearsheimer, 1995). That is, economic interdependence provides yet another potential interstate asymmetry and is thus a reason for conflict initiation. Most notably in the economic interdependence – conflict debate, Katherine Barbieri’s empirical tests have shown that bilateral trade increases the probability ofMIDs (militarized interstate disputes). (1996, 2001, 2002). Her central claim is that, “rather than inhibiting conflict, extensive economic interdependence increases the likelihood that dyads will engage in militarized interstate disputes” (1996: 29). Barbieri recognizes that low to moderate degrees of interdependence may reduce the likelihood of conflict, but she argues that, the more extensive the linkages become, the more likely interdependence will have the opposite effect. As Maoz points out, another powerful realist theory is that states’ strategic interests matter more than economic interdependence does – countries can be economically interdependent and still fight over non-economic interests (2009). Realists have focused on the causes of war and “have emphasized the conflictual aspects of international transactions whereas liberals clearly emphasize the beneficial aspects. From this different starting point, realists come to the conclusion that [economic] interdependence either increases the likelihood of war or is not related to war initiation” (McMillan, 1997: 40). Moreover, it should be noted that realists are above all concerned with war (in terms of armed conflict with at least 25 battle-related deaths or other much higher death thresholds), while liberals have considered a diversity of conflict types, primarily focusing on MIDs.
Link -- Justification of the aff based on Western conceptions of globalization and attempts to rid the world of terrorists have created a vicious cycle by which terrorism becomes inevitable, thus reinforcing fascist violence, and making fundamentalism more prevalent Shiva 2006 [Vandana, trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, “Globalization, Terrorism and Vicious Cycles of Violence”]
Impact -- The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The role of the ballot is to answer the question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009 (Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
1nc July 13 practice debate
Cap K
Increasing economic engagement to Latin America pulls the rest of the world farther into transnational capitalism Robinson 04 WILLIAM I. ROBINSON , University of California at Santa Barbara, “Global Crisis and Latin America” 2004 <http://www.ncsu.edu/acontracorriente/winter_05/Robinson.pdf> Accessed 7-11-13 EJS
Ports of entry are the key nodes of neoliberal economic governance. Heyman 2004
Josiah McC. Heyman 2004, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at El Paso, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 11: 303–327, 2004 Ports of Entry as Nodes in the World System
The modern Globalization is a reaffirmation of labor control techniques, Specifically the American hegemon is a construction of racial division and domination Quijano 2k, (Anibal Quijano, PhD and professor in sociology, “Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America”, 7/5/13 SS, http://www.unc.edu/~aescobar/wan/wanquijano.pdf)
Neoliberalism empirically initiates policies which enforce patriarchy. This will kill the critical intersection of patriarchy and capitalism which is key to the dismantling of both. Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
Patriarchy, as part as the male dominated and capitalist state system, enables depriving women of work, right to sexual liberty, work space equality, and political representation. Einspahr ’10 (Jennifer Einspahr, Associate Professor of Political Science,“Structural Domination and Structural Freedom: A Feminist Perspective,” Feminist Review 94, March 2010, 1-19, http://search.proquest.com/docview/212059658?accountid=7113.. SM)
Utilitarian measures are justification for securing against race and gender, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives the war machine and perpetuates such impacts Ahmed 2011 Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRD), an independent think tank focused on the study of violent conflict, he has taught at the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex "The international relations of crisis and the crisis of international relations: from the securitisation of scarcity to the militarisation of society" Global Change, Peace and Security Volume 23, Issue 3, 2011 Taylor Francis, CMR
Reject the Aff and allow anti-capitalist space to develop through the feminine sphere, womyn are at the beginning of the capitalist machine of producing new laborers. The alt analyzes and tells the story of these women to explore the route of non-capitalist development Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
This story of Isaura highlights the severing effects of neoliberalism, but also indicates the power of women in resistance. Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
Case Debate
ECON
Mexico is not a global economic force – without addressing inequality and poverty trade can’t Villagran 2013
Multiple alternative causes – faulty credit, informality, elite control, ineffective education, vulnerability to shocks Hanson 2012
Gordon H. Hanson Professor Hanson holds the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego, research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992 (economics) “Understanding Mexico's Economic Underperformance” Regional Migration Study Group August 2012 http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/rmsg-mexicounderperformance.pdf
Can’t solve relations – counternarcotics disagreements have already destroyed the relationship Barry, 13 – Senior Policy Analyst and Americas Policy Program Fellow, Center for International Policy (Tom, “Changing Perspectives on U.S.-Mexico Relations,” North American Congress on Latin America, May 2, https://nacla.org/news/2013/5/2/changing-perspectives-us-mexico-relations)//SY
No risk of government collapse or spillover Valdez 2009
Hegemony not key to global peace
- overwhelming military dominance, geography, no challengers, nuclear deterrence Carpenter 5/3/13 – senior fellow @ Cato, author of nine books on int’l affairs (Ted Galen, “Armed, Overbearing and Dangerous”, http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/armed-overbearing-dangerous, CMR)
TTP
The USFG hasn’t disclosed what the TTP is, be skeptical of there solvency
Plan drains Obama’s focus – agenda is finite Pastor 13 – Professor and Director of the Center for North American Studies at American University (Robert A, “Speed Bumps, Potholes, and Roadblocks on the North American Superhighway”, Winter, Lexis, CMR)
China empirically wouldn’t fight a war in ANY dispute Fravel ‘8 (Taylor, poli sci prof and member of the Security Studies Program at MIT, “Power Shifts and Escalation,” International Security, Winter, lexis)
Solvency
No Solvency – Mexico says no - the new Nieto administration in Mexico is less likely to cooperate with the US on security measures O’Neil 4/29/13
Increased land traffic at the border massively increases greenhouse gas emissions - Blank & Lee 2009
Transportation infrastructure and competitiveness (revision July 1, 2009) Report prepared for the Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte research project, “The U.S.-Mexico Border: A Discussion on Sub-National Policy Options” By Stephen Blank and Erik Lee
I
T/ Different regulatory regimes impede trade – differences in cargo liability and truck weight limits make efficient trans-border shipping difficult Harrington 2013
The plan’s spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures. **Mignolo** 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]
Globalization and integration into global markets is expansion of the colonial project in which non-white populations are deemed backwards and justify colonial control. Mignolo 2007 (Walter D., Department of Romance Studies, Duke University, “The geopolitics of knowledge and the colonial difference, “Coloniality: The Darker Side of Modernity,” antville.org, http://m1.antville.org/static/m1/files/walter_mignolo_modernologies_eng.pdf) RQ
The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative. Mignolo 2009(Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity. Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
Turn – plans expansion of free trade benefits the corporate elite at the expense of the poor, worsening poverty Roden 7-6-13 (Duncan Roden, GLW Staff Writer, University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney, “Pacific 'free trade' deal threatens poor”, http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54454)
Energy- 1:48
Turn - Military power isn’t key to hegemony – multipolarity is inevitable as the US loses cultural hegemony. The plan’s boost of hard power only spurs adventurism, undermining overall American power Allenby, 05 (Brad Allenby, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the College of Law at Arizona State University. “High Technology Military Dominance: The Opiate of Modern Empire” November 2005. http://www.cspo.org/ourlibrary/perspectives/Allenby_November2005.htm)
impact - U.S. military aggression causes nuclear terrorism and accidental US-Russian nuclear war Chomsky, 03 (Noam. Institute Professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT. “Failed States.” Pages 14-16)
Plan fails and will be rejected – internal reform is a pre-requisite to investment Hufbauer & Scott ‘5
Reginald Jones Senior Fellow since ’92, was the Marcus
Wallenberg Professor of Int’l Finance Diplomacy @ Georgetown University, AND Jeffrey J, senior fellow, joined the Inst for Int’l Economic in ’83, visiting lecturer @ Princeton, “NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges”, page number below
no solvency for energy Mexico can’t be a major producer --- too many barriers, lack of interest
Energy independence won’t solve US power or vulnerability O’Sullivan 13 (Meghan, professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and former deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, ’Energy Independence’ Alone Won’t Boost U.S. Power, Feb 14, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-14/-energy-independence-alone-won-t-boost-u-s-power.html, CMR)
Solvency
Pastor says why Canada should want to do it not that they will follow what the U.S. does. No chance the plan solves – only trilateral cooperation with Canada can ensure successful integration Pastor 12 – prof and director of the Center for North American Studies @ American
Robert A, Beyond the Continental Divide, July/August, http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1269, CMR
Round 3 tournement
OFF
The plan’s spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures. **Mignolo** 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]
Expanding globalization to Cuba is part of an imperial strategy to displace revolutionary potential in Cuba. The outcome of the expansion of globalization is environmental destruction and inequality. Bliss 2005 (Dr. Susan Bliss: Director of Global Education, 7/5/2005, “Sustainability of Modern Cuba’s post revolution globalisation process”,)
Western conceptions of globalization along with an attempt to rid the world of terrorists have created a vicious cycle by which terrorism becomes inevitable, thus reinforcing fascist violence, and making fundamentalism more prevalent Shiva 2006 [Vandana, trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, “Globalization, Terrorism and Vicious Cycles of Violence”]
The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative. Mignolo 2009(Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity. Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
Be skeptical of Piccone evidence, it list several different options for actually solving the issue Dowd evidence is all speculation, actually based on Middle Eastern issues Taiwan-China relations are high Cole 12 -- Taipei-based journalist who focuses on military issues in Northeast Asia and in the Taiwan Strait (J. Michael, 9/3, "Taiwan Hedges its Bets on China," http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2012/09/03/taiwan-hedges-its-bets-against-china/)
Internal link – US-Sino competition risks open conflict
Group the entire Terror shell Gorrell evidence is from 05 since then Cuba has been involved in joint ventures with the US to work against terrorist organizations Bryan is from 01, relations haven’t improved then and there has not yet been a bioterror attack Cuba is not a terrorist threat – engaging in peace talks Williams 5-3-13 (Carol J. Williams, LA Times foreign correspondent for 25 years, Carol J. Williams traveled to and reported from more than 80 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America., “Political Calculus Keeps Cuba on US Terror List”, http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-cuba-us-terror-list-20130502,0,2494970.story)
Globalization creates the conditions for terrorism. Sloan 2007 (Elinor C., Elinor C. Sloan is Associate Professor of International Relations at Carleton University, Ottawa and a former defence analyst with Canada’s Department of National Defence, Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, March 2007, “Terrorism in 2025: Likely Dimensions and Attributes”, ITAC, http://www.itac.gc.ca/pblctns/tc_prsnts/2007-3-eng.pdf, accessed 7/9/13, JK)
Aff
Table of Contents
Plan Text:
The United States federal government should end its embargo against Cuba.The United States employs an outdated Cold War mentality to justify its continued isolation of Cuba. US Policy towards Cuba is a masked imperialism that frames Cubans as “stunted” and “underdeveloped” in order to impose its will upon their society, we have to recognize the silent racism that is running in the backdrop of US policy
Schoultz 2010 (Lars Schoultz is the William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “ Benevolent Domination,” Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Cuban Studies, Volume 41, Project Muse).
Benevolent Domination: The Ideology of U.S. Policy toward Cuba. Washington's hostile post–Cold War policy toward Cuba is...., according to Nancy Reagan, is: "You just give me the word and I'll turn that f——island into a parking lot."11
The US embargo on Cuba is an anti-humanitarian measure that the US imposes on Cuba at the expense of civilians in the name of profit and security interests. Strict secrecy standards enable the US to propagate starvation and poverty
Eaton 5-7-13 (Tracey Eaton, Havana Times, “USAID/Cuba, a Schizophrenic Policy”, http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=92675)
Keith Bolender writes in his 2012 book “Cuba Under Siege”: “…There is ample evidence to suggest that America is enacting collective punishment … political leaders and non-governmental organizations, among others.”
And, it’s important to consider the human factor in policy decisions- the embargo has real costs for the people of Cuba- it’s a form of systemic suffering
LARRY BIRNS [COHA-Council of Hemispheric Affairs- DIRECTOR]AND FREDERICK B. MILLS[COHA SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW ]¶ Best Time for U.S.– Cuba Rapprochement Is Now¶ –JANUARY 30, 2013¶ http://www.coha.org/best-time-for-u-s-cuba-rapprochement-is-now/
Besides being counter-productive, there are also strong moral arguments for ending the embargo. From a utilitarian point of view, … more than half a century, continues to impose indiscriminate hardship on Cubans, and has failed to improve human rights in the country.” (2012 Report on Cuba)
Thus, my partner and I are resolved that: The United States federal government should end its embargo against Cuba.
Advantage One: Deprivation
The embargo is a form of oppression, the plan addresses our complicity and the complicity of the US government in exporting suffering to the Cuban people
DELIA **LLOYD** [Delia Lloyd is a writer based in London. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and The Financial Times. Previously,she worked as a producer at Chicago Public Radio and taught political science at the University of Chicago] August 24, 2010¶ Ten Reasons to Lift the Cuba Embargo¶ http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/08/24/ten-reasons-to-lift-the-cuba-embargo/
7. It's inhumane. If strategic arguments don't persuade you that it's time to end the embargo, then perhaps humanitarian arguments will…. with bucket-loads of basic medical supplies, which they promptly hand over to their (native) friends and family,it's hard not to feel that U.S. policy is perpetuating an injustice.
Removing the embargo solves – the blockade functions as a shield for political leaders and an alibi for strategic interests to justify any action, even actions at the expense of the people.
Rodriguez 5-8-2013 (Yusimí Rodríguez, Havana Times, “Who Profits from the Cuba Blockade?”, http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=92722)
It’s hard to determine, with any degree of exactitude, to what extent the blockade, sorry, the embargo…heck, the blockade, affects the lives of the Cuban people. … to repress and discredit those who oppose the government, claiming that they are at the service of a foreign power? Who truly profits from the petition made by the Ladies in White?
Even Cuban dissidents have begun to support ending the embargo, the 1AC is a recognition that US policy is perpetuating inequality and poverty amongst the Cuban people
JAMILA AISHA BROWN ¶ Jamila Aisha Brown [a social entrepreneur, freelance writer, and political commentator. She is the founder of HUE, LLC, a progressive consultancy specializing in community-led projects and initiatives in the African diaspora]¶ Top of Form ¶ April 16, 2013 FOREIGN POLICY, POP CULTURE¶ El Momento Es Ahora –End the Cuban Embargo Now¶ http://www.cbcfinc.org/thevillage/?p=297
The Carters, rapper/mogul Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé, found themselves caught in an international controversy after vacationing on the communist island of Cuba for their fifth wedding anniversary.¶ … While visiting a school in Matanzas, Cuba that trains students to become art, music, and dance teachers in efforts to preserve Cuban culture, I was struck by the talent of this singer and composer who performed his song “El Momento Es Ahora” (The Moment Is Now). Indeed it is.
The history of Cuban/ US relations is one of securitization and falsely constructed epistemology. Cuba was used as the laboratory where US imperialism was “perfected” before being exported globally. The 1AC is a critical challenge to the way imperial thinking pervades US policy
Louis A. Pérez Jr. [J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History at University of North Carolina; Editor, Cuban Journal-M.A. University of Arizona,Ph.D. University of New Mexico] 2008¶ Cuba In the American Imagination-Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos [book, online]¶ Pp 1-11
Cuba occupies a special place in the history of American imperialism. It¶ has served as something of a laboratory for the development of the methods¶ by which the United States has pursued the creation of a global empire. In the¶ aggregate, the means used by the United States in Cuba constitute a microcosm¶…The people who readily endorsed the proposition¶ of beneficent duty as motive for armed intervention in Cuba in 1898¶would henceforth exercise power abroad as duty of beneficence. It was the¶ American way.
Prioritize the macro ethical stance of the 1AC over the incremental micro focus of the Neg’s Cps and Disads, the debate should be about crafting ethical responses in the face of suffering not what is politically expedient
Tony Smith [International & Comparative Politics Cornelia M. Jackson Professor of Political Science Ph.D., Harvard University, 1971]¶ Tufts University¶ Patrick J. Haney and Walt Vanderbush, The Cuban Embargo: The Domestic Politics of an American Foreign Policy.Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. 222 pp.¶ Journal of Cold War Studies 9.4 (2007) 140-142 [Project Muse]
What is lacking finally is a sense of the passion of ethnic politics. One may regret (as this reviewer does and as the authors of this book apparently do too) …. Haney and Vanderbush have done a workmanlike job, but this reviewer is left with the sense that if they had taken a broader perspective they could have lifted their study to a higher level.
The Affirmative is a prior question, don’t strictly evaluate body counts- instead your ballot should be a moral stand against policies that ignore human suffering for the “greater good”
Addis 2003 (Adeno Addis is William Ray Forrester Professor of Public and Constitutional Law at Tulane University Law School. “Economic Sanctions and The problem of evil”, Human Rights Quarterly 25.3 (2003) 573-623)
Other critics may concede that more often than not such measures would lead to the desired behavior modification, but at a cost that is often unacceptably high. Economic sanctions deprive citizens of the … sectors of the target state, as economic sanctions do, for an objective that does not involve the prevention of the deaths of other innocent persons. **15**
Utilitarian measures are justification for securing against race, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives the war machine and perpetuates such impacts
Ahmed 2011 Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRD), an independent think tank focused on the study of violent conflict, he has taught at the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex "The international relations of crisis and the crisis of international relations: from the securitisation of scarcity to the militarisation of society" Global Change, Peace and Security Volume 23, Issue 3, 2011 Taylor Francis, CMR
This analysis thus calls for a broader approach to environmental security based on retrieving the manner in which political actors construct discourses of 'scarcity' in response to ecological, energy and economic crises (critical security studies) …, the breakdown of prevailing norms, the formation of new exclusionary group identities, and the projection of blame for crisis onto a newly constructed 'outsider' group vindicating various forms of violence.
Sanctions are an excuse for the regime to perpetuate the injustices of the Cuban plight
Bandow 2012 (Doug Bandow, Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire, 12-11-12, “Time to End Cuba Embargo”, nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-pointless-cuba-embargo-7834
The policy in Cuba obviously has failed. The regime remains in power. Indeed, it has consistently used the embargo to justify its own mismanagement, blaming poverty on America…the "sanctions policy gives the government a good alibi to justify the failure of the totalitarian model in Cuba."
Sanctions are at the root for regime justification and crackdowns
Bandow 2012 (Doug Bandow, Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of several books, including Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire, 12-11-12, “Time to End Cuba Embargo”, nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-pointless-cuba-embargo-7834
Today even the GOP is no longer reliable. For instance, though Republican vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan has defended the embargo in recent years, that …President Obama should propose legislation to drop (or at least significantly loosen) the embargo. He also could use his authority to relax sanctions by, for instance, granting more licenses to visit the island.
Neg
Quarters
OFFLink -- The spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures – the plan facilitates this spread
Mignolo 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]Link --- Expanding globalization to Cuba is part of an imperial strategy to displace revolutionary potential in Cuba. The outcome of the expansion of globalization is environmental destruction and inequality – turns back the case
Bliss 2005 (Dr. Susan Bliss: Director of Global Education, 7/5/2005, “Sustainability of Modern Cuba’s post revolution globalisation process”,)Impact -- The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The role of the ballot is to answer the question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009 (Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
ON
Econ
Drilling profits will be slow – not solve dependence or cutoff fears
Emily A. Peterson¶ Daniel J. Whittle, J.D.¶ and Douglas N. Rader, Ph.D¶ December 2012 “Bridging the Gulf¶ Finding Common Ground on Environmental and ¶ Safety Preparedness for Offshore Oil and Gas in Cuba”, http://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/EDF-Bridging_the_Gulf-2012.pdfEnergy experts also note that examples from deep water exploratory drilling around the ¶ world demonstrate that it is not atypical to drill numerous dry or commercially unviable ¶ holes in new fields before a profitable discovery is found.24 Jorge Piñón, the former president ¶ of Amoco Oil Latin America and now an energy specialist at the University of Texas at Austin, ¶explained that economic discoveries often play out over a longer time horizon. “A lot of people¶have been very naïve in thinking that an oil-rich Cuba was going to materialize overnight, and ¶that is not the case,” Piñón said. “You don’t just turn the faucet on overnight.”25
No supply cutoff – new Venezuelan president is an ally
Peter Orsi 4/5 “Cuba avoids oil cutoff for now as Chavez ally narrowly wins Venezuela presidential election”, http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Cuba+avoids+cutoff+Chavez+ally+narrowly+wins+Venezuela+presidential+election/8244434/story.htmlCubans were relieved Monday by the announcement that the late leader Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor had been elected Venezuela's new president, apparently allowing their country to dodge a threatened cutoff of billions of dollars in subsidized oil. Cuban President Raul Castro sent a congratulatory message to Nicolas Maduro,who is seen as anideological allywho will want to continue the countries' special relationship as he serves out the remainder of Chavez's six-year term. "The main thing from Cuba's point of view is that he's won, if it's ratified," said Paul Webster Hare, a lecturer in international relations at Boston University and former British diplomatic envoy to both Venezuela and Cuba. "They will probably be thinking that they now have perhaps a maximum of five years of Venezuelan subsidies left," Hare said, "because if the trend continues moving against him, as I think is likely, this will be the last term even if they are able to continue all the subsidies for that period. ... The clock's ticking for that relationship."
No impact to naval power
Tillman 9 (Barrett Tillman, Historian specializing in naval and aviation topics, 2009. U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings Magazine, “Fear and Loathing in the Post-Naval Era,” http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/story.asp?STORY_ID=1896)In attempting to justify a Cold War force structure, many military pundits cling to the military stature of China as proof of a possible large conventional-war scenario against a pseudo-peer rival. Since only China possessesanything remotely approaching the prospect of challenging American hegemony—and only in Asian waters—Beijing ergo becomes the "threat" that justifies maintaining the Cold War force structure.China's development of the DF-21 long-range antiship ballistic missile, presumably intended for American carriers, has drawn much attention. Yet even granting the perfection of such a weapon, the most obvious question goes begging: why would China use it? Why would Beijing start a war with its number-two trading partner—a war that would ruin both economies?10 Furthermore, the U.S. Navy ownsnearly as many major combatants as Russia and China combined. In tonnage, we hold a 2.6 to 1 advantage over them. No other coalition—actual or imagined—even comes close. But we need to ask ourselves: does that matter? In today's world the most urgent naval threat consists not of ships, subs, or aircraft, but of mines-and pirates.11
Data disproves hegemony impacts
Fettweis, 11 Christopher J. Fettweis, Department of Political Science, Tulane University, 9/26/11, Free Riding or Restraint? Examining European Grand Strategy, Comparative Strategy, 30:316–332, EBSCOIt is perhaps worth noting that there is no evidence to support a direct relationship between the relative level of U.S. activism and international stability. In fact, the limited data we do have suggest the opposite may be true. During the 1990s, the United States cut back on its defense spending fairly substantially. By 1998, the United States was spending $100 billion less on defense in real terms than it had in 1990.51 To internationalists, defense hawks and believers in hegemonic stability, this irresponsible “peace dividend” endangered both national and global security. “No serious analyst of American military capabilities,” argued Kristol and Kagan, “doubts that the defense budget has been cut much too far to meet America’s responsibilities to itself and to world peace.”52 On the other hand, if the pacific trends were not based upon U.S. hegemony buta strengthening norm against interstate war, one would not have expected an increase in global instability and violence.¶ The verdict from the past two decades is fairly plain: The world grew more peaceful while the United States cut its forces. No state seemed to believe that its security was endangered by a less-capable United States military, or at least none took any action that would suggestsuch a belief. No militaries were enhanced to address power vacuums, no security dilemmas drove insecurity or arms races, and noregional balancing occurred once the stabilizing presence of the U.S. military was diminished. The rest of the world acted as if the threat of international war was not a pressing concern, despite the reduction in U.S. capabilities. Most of all, the United States and its allies were no less safe. The incidence and magnitude of global conflict declined while the United States cut its military spending under President Clinton, and kept declining as the Bush Administration ramped the spending back up. No complex statistical analysis should be necessary to reach the conclusion that the two are unrelated.¶ Military spending figures by themselves are insufficient to disprove a connection between overall U.S. actions and international stability. Once again, one could presumably argue that spending is not the only or even the best indication of hegemony, and that it is instead U.S. foreign political and security commitments that maintain stability. Since neither was significantly altered during this period, instability should not have been expected. Alternately, advocates of hegemonic stability could believe that relative rather than absolute spending is decisive in bringing peace. Although the United States cut back on its spending during the 1990s, its relative advantage never wavered.¶ However, even if it is true that either U.S. commitments or relative spending account for global pacific trends, then at the very least stability can evidently be maintained at drastically lower levels of both. In other words, even if one can be allowed to argue in the alternative for a moment and suppose that there is in fact a level of engagement below which the United States cannot drop without increasing international disorder, a rational grand strategist would still recommend cutting back on engagement and spending until that level is determined. Grand strategic decisions are never final; continual adjustments can and must be made as time goes on. Basic logic suggests that the United States ought to spend the minimum amount of its blood and treasure while seeking the maximum return on its investment. And if the current era of stability is as stable as many believe it to be, no increase in conflict would ever occur irrespective of U.S. spending, which would save untold trillions for an increasingly debt-ridden nation.¶ It is also perhaps worth noting that if opposite trends had unfolded, if other states had reacted to news of cuts in U.S. defense spending with more aggressive or insecure behavior, then internationalists would surely argue that their expectations had been fulfilled. If increases in conflict would have been interpreted as proof of the wisdom of internationalist strategies, then logical consistency demands that the lack thereof should at least pose a problem. As it stands, the only evidence we have regarding the likely systemic reaction to a more restrained United States suggests that the current peaceful trends are unrelated to U.S. military spending. Evidently the rest of the world can operate quite effectively without the presence of a global policeman. Those who think otherwise base their view on faith alone.
Environment
1) The economic imbalances of societies are at the heart of environmental destruction and warfare, be skeptical of “natural” disasters, they exist as results of exploitation rather than divine happenings
Carey 09
(Mark Carey, assistant professor of history at Washington and Lee University where he teaches Latin American and environmental history. He won the 2008 ¶ Leopold-Hidy Prize for his article, "The History of Ice: How Glaciers Became an ¶ Endangered Species (Environmental History, July 2007), April 2009, “Latin American Environmental History: Current Trends, Interdisciplinary Insights, and¶ Future Directions”, Jstor, 7/6/13 SS, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40608469)
DISASTER SCHOLARS ARE AMONG the most prominent to blur nature-culture ¶ dichotomies, and this is a research area where historians have made important ¶ historiographical contributions. They underscore the social roots of catastrophe by demonstrating how marginalized populations suffer disproportionately when ¶ catastrophes occur. The same historical processes that make populations vulnerable ¶ to so-called "natural" disasters-such as race and class divisions or land and resource ¶ loss- also contribute to warfare and revolutionary movements. Within nations and ¶ on a global scale, power imbalances and economic inequality are thus at the center of ¶ disasters and wars. Disaster studies in Latin America generally focus on earthquakes, floods, and ¶ weather-related catastrophes such as hurricanes, El Niño, and drought.77 Earthquake ¶ research tends to focus on single events, such as Lima in 1746, San Juan, Argentina in ¶ 1944, Huaraz, Peru in 1970, or Mexico City in 1985, among others.78 Scholars examining ¶ these earthquakes uncover not only the disaster impacts but also the politics of relief ¶ and reconstruction. Charles Walker, for example, argues that the 1746 earthquake- ¶ tsunami in Peru provided a clean slate for enlightened leaders to implement new ¶ reforms that challenged elite authority and reigning social hierarchies.79 Provocative ¶ studies on Caribbean hurricanes have unearthed both the social underpinnings of ¶ disaster vulnerability and the short- and long-term implications of disasters, such ¶ as Cuba's altered economy and closer relations with the United States following the ¶ three deadly 1840s hurricanes that Louis Pérez examines.80 El Niño scholarship has ¶ increasingly expanded beyond Peru to emphasize scientific, political, social, and even ¶ cultural aspects.81 ¶ Drought research is notable for its integration of climatic data into social analysis. ¶ Georgina Endfield links the changing climate to human vulnerability in colonial ¶ Mexico. This approach not only grounds her analysis in the social landscape of New ¶ Spain but also merges climate and water issues with disaster and agrarian studies. In a study of a recent El Niño event in Mexico, Hallie Eakin also focuses on household ¶ vulnerability to identify which regions, families, and communities were best (and least) ¶ able to adapt to extreme weather events. Both Eakin and Endfield demonstrate how ¶ climatic vulnerability was produced historically and stemmed from social, political, ¶ and economic conditions rather than simple "acts of God."82 Scholars have also studied ¶ drought in Northeast Brazil.83 While analyzing drought's profound impact on people, ¶ land, and livelihoods, they also analyze techno-scientific responses and the politics and ¶ discourse of disaster. Many of these studies increasingly probe the power dimensions of ¶ drought. Timothy Finan reveals how Brazilian elites manipulated drought discourse to ¶ accumulate wealth and power.84 Globally, Mike Davis suggests that millions died in late ¶ nineteenth century El Niño events-which generated drought in Brazil-because of the ¶ "fatal meshing of extreme events between the world climate system and the late Victorian ¶ world economy": western European imperial powers had taken control of local people's ¶ land and labor, and thus their ability to grow and procure food.85 Climatic disasters ¶ sometimes produced surprising historical changes, too. Glacier melting that triggered ¶ massive floods and avalanches in Peru also fostered new scientific studies, inspired ¶ innovative engineering projects, jump-started economic modernization campaigns, and ¶ provided platforms for fresh political agendas from within and beyond the Andes.86 ¶ Wars account for another type of disaster. And environmental analyses of war ¶ in Latin America, which tend to focus on post-i96os Central America, echo Davis's ¶ condemnations of the ways in which the global economy and geopolitics create ¶ vulnerable populations and cause disasters. In contrast to most environmental histories ¶ of warfare that examine the effects of weapons, science, technology, and military ¶ resource consumption, the small historiography on Latin America emphasizes the ¶ environmental dimensions leading to war as well as consequences.87 William Durham's ¶ analysis of the 1969 Honduras-El Salvador Soccer War illuminates the role of ecology ¶ and environmental conflicts. He shows how resource scarcity and land loss drove ¶ 300,000 Salvadorans to emigrate into an already strained situation in Honduras.88 ¶ Daniel Faber makes this point more broadly and emphatically, arguing that "Marxist ¶ and socialist theory should place the ecological crisis at the center of any analysis ¶ of revolution and imperialism in Central America."89 For Faber, capitalism produces ¶ multiple environmental effects that include warfare as well as the overexploitation ¶ of natural resources and the transformation of the peasantry from subsistence to the ¶ capitalist export sector. These social studies of warfare and disasters in Central America ¶ link with more recent scholarship on environmental justice.90 They also point to the ¶ importance of understanding social relations and power dynamics- the fundamentals ¶ of social history- inherent in past human-environment interactions’
2) Universal truth claims about the environment ignore particular histories and particular epistemologies which privileges the material world and colonizes both people and the environment in the sake of perfection – allowing more ecological destruction.
Molyneux and Steinberg 1995 [Maxine and Deborah Lynn, Mies and Shiva’s Ecofeminism: a new testament? Published Feminist Review Spring 1995 no. 49]
As the opening quote of this paper suggests, narratives are essential to the way we know and understand the world in which we live. That is, narratives describe the ontological structure of the world in which we live and provide guidelines for how we know that world.Epistemological and ontological foundations are often hidden in narratives. These hidden foundations within narratives deny differences and devalue the interrelated, ongoing process of all creation if the particularity of the narrative is forgotten. That is, their (ideal) epistemological claims lose touch with the (material) ontological context in which they are made. When knowledge claims no longer claim particularity, but universality, they deny their contextuality and claim a knowledge boundary beyond which no one can see and which must be assumed rather than critically engaged.2 They then lead to hegemonic knowledge claims that centralize knowledge, agency, and the capacity for truth in the claimer of an assertion.3 In other words, they idealize the material world and all life therein and colonize that world with their own truth claims.4 Both idealism and materialism are in this sense, “idealistic”: all reality is made to fit one, human, eco-socially located explanation. Or, put another way, both are reductionistic: they try to reduce all reality to a human idea(l). Contrarily, epistemological and ontological narratives that recognize the postfoundational, contextual nature of knowledge often recognize and respect differences and particularity precisely because they focus on the contexts of knowledge (thereby exposing “foundations” as partial rather than universal).5 These epistemologies are more conducive to knowledge claims about ontology that recognize agency (and thus value) in the other and lead to understandings of truth as a communicative and dialogical process (rather than a monological claim). That is, through a dialogical process, these claims remain open to the evolving material world and “others’” knowledge claims therein. They value both the material and the ideal aspects of life. Furthermore, by acknowledging the tentative nature between knowing and reality, these postfoundational knowledge claims require us to take responsibility for our knowledge assertions and our actions based on these knowledge assertions.6 These narratives, then, have implications for anthropology and ethics. Many postcolonial, feminist, mujerista, latina/o, womanist, and other critical discourses share in this form of epistemological/ontological respect of diversity and taking responsibility for knowledge claims. These critical discourses have uncovered the hidden assumptions about race, class, gender, in hegemonic narratives. Why, then, do I focus on social/ist ecofeminism?7 Social/ist ecofeminist epistemologies/ontologies inherently focus on the relationships among human beings (gender, race, class, etc.), and on the relationships between humans and the rest of the natural world. That is, they see humans as part of the rest of the natural world and not as an exception to the rest of the natural world. Although the ecofeminists whose work I examine can be grouped under the category of “social/ist” ecofeminism, they are by no means a homogeneous group of thinkers. What does unite them is a respect for the agential capacities and value of all life on the planet along with respect for the inherent diversity of life on the planet. Likewise, they claim that nature-culture, self-other, conscious-matter are co-constitutive, constructed categories. “A view of nature can be seen as a projection of human perceptions of self and society onto the cosmos. Conversely, theories about nature have historically been interpreted as containing implications about the way individuals or social groups behave or ought to behave.”8 For humans, there is no getting outside the textof nature-culture.9 These social/ist ecofeminists challenge foundationalism that asserts a one-to-one relationship between thought and reality, and nonfoundationalism that claims that all reality is made through language systems alone. “In layers of history, layers of biology, layers of natureculture, complexity is the name of our game.”10 Rather than a Platonic (and in many cases Christian) valuing of the ideal over the material or a physicalist reduction of the ideal to the material (which is also an idealism, if one considers that reality is idealmaterial), these ecofeminists assert that nature-culture, ideal-material, mindbody, spirit-flesh, are the starting points for reflection on the world in which we humans live. This is the exact type of starting point, for instance, that Rosemary Ruether suggests in the title (and content) of her book Gaia (earth/material) and God (ideal/prophetic).11 It is what I am referring to in this article as a social/ist ecofeminist eco-ontology. Far from being relativists, these ecofeminists argue that human beings must take responsibility for our beliefs about the world and the actions that ensue from those beliefs. Neither universality (a form of hyperidealism) nor relativity (also a form of hyperidealism) allow for this type of epistemic responsibility. “Relativism and totalization are both ‘god tricks’ promising vision from everywhere and nowhere equally and fully.”12 Both universality and relativity lead to a denial of the eco-social contextual subject. If one posits no “foundation,” then neither relativity nor universality makes any sense; rather, contextuality is the name of the game. For ecofeminists, the ecological is just as important as the social/historical when talking about epistemological locatedness: “There is no epistemic process to which we have access that is not a matter of embodiment within an ecological niche.”13
3) Russia currently already drilling off the Cuba Basin- exploration of 2013 proves
4) No drilling in the squo – all companies have bailed.
Mary O'Grady (is a member of the editorial board at The Wall Street Journa) WSJ – April 24, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324474004578442511561458392.html
Then came promises of an oil boom and last week the predictable bust. The Brazilian state-owned Petrobras PETR4.BR +1.01% had given up on deep-sea drilling in Cuban waters in 2011. Repsol REP.MC -2.46% gave up in May 2012. The deep water platform it was using was then passed to Malaysia's state-owned Petronas, which also came up empty. Venezuela's PdVSA had no luck either. In November Cuba announced that the rig that had been in use would be heading to Asia. Last week came the end of shallow-water drilling.
5) Cuban drilling is safe – access to technology and safety standards prove
Sadowksi 12 (Richard – Managing Editor of Production of the Journal of International Business and Law Vol. X, J.D Candidate at Hofstra University, “Cuban Offshore Drilling: Preparation and Prevention within the Framework of the United States’ Embargo”, 2012, http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=sdlp)
Fears that Cuban offshore drilling poses serious environmental threats because of the proximity to the United States and the prohibition on U.S. technology transfer are overblown. Cuba has at least as much incentive to ensure safe-drilling practices as does theUnited States, and reports indicate that Cuba is taking safety seriously. 64 Lee Hunt, President of the Houston-based International Association of Drilling Contractors, said, “[t]he Cuban oil industry has put a lot of research, study and thought into what will be required to safely drill,” and that “they are very knowledgeable of international industry practicesand have incorporated many of these principles into their safetyand regulatory planning and requirements.” 65 Thus, while the economic embargo of Cuba restricts American technology from being uti - lized, foreign sources have provided supplemental alternatives. 66
6) Even conservation biologists agree that species loss is slow and there's no impact
Julian Simon (world-renowned economist) 1998 The Ultimate Resource II, http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR31.txt)
Starting in the early 1980s I published the above critical analysis of the standard extinction estimates. For several years these criticisms produced no response at all. But then in response to questions that I and others raised, the "official" IUCN (the World Conservation Union) commissioned a book edited by Whitmore and Sayer to inquire into the extent of extinctions. The results of that project must be considered amazing. All the authors - the very conservation biologists who have been most alarmed by the threat of species die-offs - continue to be concerned about the rate of extinction. Nevertheless, they confirm the central assertion; all agree that the rate of known extinctions has been and continues to be very low. I will tax your patience with lengthy quotations (with emphasis supplied) documenting the consensus that there is no evidence of massive or increasing rates of species extinction, because this testimony from the conservation biologists themselves is especially convincing; furthermore, if only shorter quotes were presented, the skeptical reader might worry that the quotes were taken out of context. (Even so, the skeptic may want to check the original texts to see that the quotations fairly represent the gist of the authors' arguments.)
Impact Framing
1. Trade is utilized by the Western powers to create financial dependency of other nations and force a colonial strategy upon those populations and embeds violence and racism in everyday political life.
Kanth 2005 [Rajani Kannepalli Kanth, Against Eurocentrism: A Transcendent Critique of Modernist Science, Society, and Morals 67-69]
The firearm, the printing press, paper, and the compass were to become the prime tools of Western domination of non-Western cultures; today, in the golden era of neoliberalist finance, one might add only commerce and credit—that is, trade and financial dependency—as the other set of allied mechanisms. The simple, if ironic, fact that all of these were originally non-European inventions must be a sobering thought to those prone to genuflect before the putative superiority, and originality, of modernist science. It might also be noted that the (putative) absence of a compass did not inhibit navigation on the part of several non-European peoples who engaged in explorations not of necessity confluent with the motives of trade and conquest. It was not a state of mind, nor a penchant for reflection, that furthered the rapid development of European natural science (although the entire effort was located within the metaphysical matrix of anthropocentrism) but rather dire industrial necessity in the context of desperate international, and internecine, rivalry and war, features that have but little changed in the modern period where most research that is amply funded is still of the strategic kind. If one but adds commercial greed, to industrial need, then we effectively sum up the driving ethos—the colossal strengths and weakness—of European science. Salutary to note, in this regard, that neither Vedic wisdom, wherein science and ethics were combined, nor Buddhist or Jain explorations in mathematics, were either provoked by, or were concomitants of, conquest and accumulation but bore a purity of ardor and endeavor that has simply no modernist European equivalent leastways in the classical period of the Enlightenment (this does not mean that the later post-Vedic tradition did not inculcate philosophy as statecraft.. Kautilya's Arthashastra, in that regard, compares favorably with, if long prior to, Machiavelli's ideas). However, the new scientific outlook of the Enlightenment was not engendered unopposed and had to fight it way over the back of older traditions of science that were far more hospitable to humbler social needs and necessities, that is, they were not driven solely by greed or power. Much as the ideas of liberalism triumphed over church ideology by virtue not of better argument or better evidence, contrary to modernist legend, but the power of better organized force (as instanced in the politics of Galileo in success, and the lost crusade of the great Paracelsus, in failure), the new sciences simply expelled the old arts and pushed them to the outer margins of existence. Superior force, organization, and iron discipline were the redoubtable tools of European mastery, but even they, in themselves, may not have sufficed to effect the supreme dominance that is visible today in all corners of the world (excepting China, which remains the least Europeanized of any modernist social formation) were this force not to be supplemented with a philosophy of domination that, to this day, has no pareil in the history of human endeavors. Non-European empires, faced with the European peril, had to learn the hard way that guns without arguments almost fail to fire altogether. Somewhere in the Renaissance, Europe possessed itself of such an inexorable ideology, a veritable manifest, of conquest of all things—and peoples. The very spirit of the ruling European (and his North-American counterparts) today is informed with this wantonly conquistadorean, carpetbagging, temper, still seeking gullible subjects cum consumers, wherever possible, still seeking to take without giving, to rule without consent, ready to cheat on treaties, renege on friends, and exact from the weak and the helpless.The craven U.S. invasion of Grenada, infamous act of state piracy apart, where the mightiest force on earth trampled on the poorest little island imaginable, and then awarded themselves a glittering gallery of medals—more than one medal each for every soldier, sailor, and marine landed (and many who never landed incidentally)—can convey but a very small appreciation of just how far from even the very simplest norms of morality European "civilization" has traversed in but a few centuries (equally linear and unbroken is the red line of infamy that connects the atrocities of the Europeans in Africa and the technology driven savagery of Americans in Vietnam). Indeed, the very word itself today has no readily agreed upon meaning or significance in modernist society—just as similarly, economics, the ruling logos of modernism, has no place for, and comprehension of, the idea of fairness or justice, terms which are literally meaningless within that discourse. With the destruction of normative ties, the social basis of morality erodes and becomes privatized (small wonder that the U.S. Supreme Court deems, with much relief, morality a local, community resource subject to local adjudications and alterations of fashioris). Morality, like ethics, becomes merely an option, among many choices, for the ordinary person, to be exercised when it involves the least cost to the practitioner; like faith, its close country cousin, it has become effectively dispensable, and quite sub-optimal, as a workable code for conduct. Once again, the United States (where bad guys win with a grim, degrading, monotony), the most degenerately advanced in these directions, is living testimony to the simple rectitude of these propositions, whose truth is confirmable by simple, direct observation alone.
2. Economic interdependence doesn’t check
Antov 11 [Michael – Department of Political Science at Duke University, “Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: The Implications of Membership in International Economic, Financial, and Monetary Organizations and Multilateral Preferential Trade Agreements”, December 15th, 2011, http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/5095/2011-12-15%20Milen%20Antov%20Senior%20Thesis.pdf?sequence=1, Chetan]
In contrast to the liberal arguments, realists have argued that in an anarchic world in which states are solely concerned with preserving their existence, the more interactions among states there are, the higher the likelihood of conflict (Mearsheimer, 1995). That is, economic interdependence provides yet another potential interstate asymmetry and is thus a reason for conflict initiation. Most notably in the economic interdependence – conflict debate, Katherine Barbieri’s empirical tests have shown that bilateral trade increases the probability ofMIDs (militarized interstate disputes). (1996, 2001, 2002). Her central claim is that, “rather than inhibiting conflict, extensive economic interdependence increases the likelihood that dyads will engage in militarized interstate disputes” (1996: 29). Barbieri recognizes that low to moderate degrees of interdependence may reduce the likelihood of conflict, but she argues that, the more extensive the linkages become, the more likely interdependence will have the opposite effect. As Maoz points out, another powerful realist theory is that states’ strategic interests matter more than economic interdependence does – countries can be economically interdependent and still fight over non-economic interests (2009). Realists have focused on the causes of war and “have emphasized the conflictual aspects of international transactions whereas liberals clearly emphasize the beneficial aspects. From this different starting point, realists come to the conclusion that [economic] interdependence either increases the likelihood of war or is not related to war initiation” (McMillan, 1997: 40). Moreover, it should be noted that realists are above all concerned with war (in terms of armed conflict with at least 25 battle-related deaths or other much higher death thresholds), while liberals have considered a diversity of conflict types, primarily focusing on MIDs.
Link -- Justification of the aff based on Western conceptions of globalization and attempts to rid the world of terrorists have created a vicious cycle by which terrorism becomes inevitable, thus reinforcing fascist violence, and making fundamentalism more prevalent
Shiva 2006 [Vandana, trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, “Globalization, Terrorism and Vicious Cycles of Violence”]
Impact -- The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]The role of the ballot is to answer the question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009 (Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]1nc July 13 practice debate
Cap K
Increasing economic engagement to Latin America pulls the rest of the world farther into transnational capitalismRobinson 04
WILLIAM I. ROBINSON , University of California at Santa Barbara, “Global Crisis and Latin America” 2004 <http://www.ncsu.edu/acontracorriente/winter_05/Robinson.pdf> Accessed 7-11-13 EJS
Ports of entry are the key nodes of neoliberal economic governance.
Heyman 2004
Josiah McC. Heyman 2004, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at El Paso, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 11: 303–327, 2004 Ports of Entry as Nodes in the World System
The modern Globalization is a reaffirmation of labor control techniques, Specifically the American hegemon is a construction of racial division and domination
Quijano 2k, (Anibal Quijano, PhD and professor in sociology, “Coloniality of power and Eurocentrism in Latin America”, 7/5/13 SS, http://www.unc.edu/~aescobar/wan/wanquijano.pdf)
Neoliberalism empirically initiates policies which enforce patriarchy. This will kill the critical intersection of patriarchy and capitalism which is key to the dismantling of both.
Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
Patriarchy, as part as the male dominated and capitalist state system, enables depriving women of work, right to sexual liberty, work space equality, and political representation.
Einspahr ’10 (Jennifer Einspahr, Associate Professor of Political Science,“Structural Domination and Structural Freedom: A Feminist Perspective,” Feminist Review 94, March 2010, 1-19, http://search.proquest.com/docview/212059658?accountid=7113.. SM)
Utilitarian measures are justification for securing against race and gender, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives the war machine and perpetuates such impacts
Ahmed 2011 Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Development (IPRD), an independent think tank focused on the study of violent conflict, he has taught at the Department of International Relations, University of Sussex "The international relations of crisis and the crisis of international relations: from the securitisation of scarcity to the militarisation of society" Global Change, Peace and Security Volume 23, Issue 3, 2011 Taylor Francis, CMR
Reject the Aff and allow anti-capitalist space to develop through the feminine sphere, womyn are at the beginning of the capitalist machine of producing new laborers. The alt analyzes and tells the story of these women to explore the route of non-capitalist development
Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
This story of Isaura highlights the severing effects of neoliberalism, but also indicates the power of women in resistance.
Motta ’13 (Sara C., Senior lecturer in politics at the University of Newcastle in Australia, “’We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For’ The Feminization of Resistance in Venezuela,” Latin American Perspectives, SagePub, 07/04/13, http://lap.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/19/0094582X13485706, SM)
Case Debate
ECONMexico is not a global economic force – without addressing inequality and poverty trade can’t
Villagran 2013
Lauren Villagran, Correspondent / April 24, 2013 “Is Mexico's economy more a fiesta or a siesta?” Christian Science Monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2013/0424/Is-Mexico-s-economy-more-a-fiesta-or-a-siesta
Multiple alternative causes – faulty credit, informality, elite control, ineffective education, vulnerability to shocks
Hanson 2012
Gordon H. Hanson Professor Hanson holds the Pacific Economic Cooperation Chair in International Economic Relations at UC San Diego, research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992 (economics) “Understanding Mexico's Economic Underperformance” Regional Migration Study Group August 2012 http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/rmsg-mexicounderperformance.pdf
No chance of war from economic decline---best and most recent data
Daniel W. Drezner 12, Professor, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, October 2012, “The Irony of Global Economic Governance: The System Worked,” http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/IR-Colloquium-MT12-Week-5_The-Irony-of-Global-Economic-Governance.pdf
Relations
No Solvency: improving cross-border trade isn’t sufficient – problems related to the drug trade will undermine cooperation
Walser 2013
Ray Walser, Senior Policy Analyst specializing in Latin America at The Heritage Foundation “Obama in Mexico: Change the Reality, Not the Conversation” 5/1/13 http://blog.heritage.org/2013/05/01/obama-in-mexico-change-the-reality-not-the-conversation/
Can’t solve relations – counternarcotics disagreements have already destroyed the relationship
Barry, 13 – Senior Policy Analyst and Americas Policy Program Fellow, Center for International Policy (Tom, “Changing Perspectives on U.S.-Mexico Relations,” North American Congress on Latin America, May 2, https://nacla.org/news/2013/5/2/changing-perspectives-us-mexico-relations)//SY
No risk of government collapse or spillover
Valdez 2009
Hegemony not key to global peace
- overwhelming military dominance, geography, no challengers, nuclear deterrence
Carpenter 5/3/13 – senior fellow @ Cato, author of nine books on int’l affairs (Ted Galen, “Armed, Overbearing and Dangerous”, http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/armed-overbearing-dangerous, CMR)
TTP
The USFG hasn’t disclosed what the TTP is, be skeptical of there solvency
Plan drains Obama’s focus – agenda is finite
Pastor 13 – Professor and Director of the Center for North American Studies at American University (Robert A, “Speed Bumps, Potholes, and Roadblocks on the North American Superhighway”, Winter, Lexis, CMR)
China empirically wouldn’t fight a war in ANY dispute
Fravel ‘8 (Taylor, poli sci prof and member of the Security Studies Program at MIT, “Power Shifts and Escalation,” International Security, Winter, lexis)
Solvency
No Solvency – Mexico says no - the new Nieto administration in Mexico is less likely to cooperate with the US on security measures
O’Neil 4/29/13
Increased land traffic at the border massively increases greenhouse gas emissions -
Blank & Lee 2009
Transportation infrastructure and competitiveness (revision July 1, 2009) Report prepared for the Woodrow Wilson Center Mexico Institute and El Colegio de la Frontera Norte research project, “The U.S.-Mexico Border: A Discussion on Sub-National Policy Options” By Stephen Blank and Erik Lee
I
T/ Different regulatory regimes impede trade – differences in cargo liability and truck weight limits make efficient trans-border shipping difficult
Harrington 2013
“U.S.—Mexico Trade: Two-Way Traffic” January Inbound Logistics Lisa H. Harrington Supply chain management consultant, professor, research center associate director, University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/us-mexico-trade-two-way-traffic/
1NC Round 1 tournament
1nc Shell – Coloniality
The plan’s spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures.**Mignolo** 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]
Globalization and integration into global markets is expansion of the colonial project in which non-white populations are deemed backwards and justify colonial control.
Mignolo 2007 (Walter D., Department of Romance Studies, Duke University, “The geopolitics of knowledge and the colonial difference, “Coloniality: The Darker Side of Modernity,” antville.org, http://m1.antville.org/static/m1/files/walter_mignolo_modernologies_eng.pdf) RQ
The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009(Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
On case arguments
Integration AdvantageTurn -- Disease spreads more easily through free trade, means the plan makes diseases worse
David A. Relma et al. [Professor, Medicine - Infectious Diseases @ Stanford University], Rapporteurs; Forum on Microbial Threats; Institute of Medicine¶ Infectious Disease Movement in a Borderless World:¶ Workshop Summary (2010)¶ http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12758
Turn – plans expansion of free trade benefits the corporate elite at the expense of the poor, worsening poverty
Roden 7-6-13 (Duncan Roden, GLW Staff Writer, University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney, “Pacific 'free trade' deal threatens poor”, http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54454)
Impact - Poverty outweighs all other concerns
Maguire 1996 ("The Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health & Ethics Population, Poverty and Sustainable Development”, http://www.sacredchoices.org/population_poverty_sustainable_dev.htm,)
.
Turn -- Trade liberalization creates imbalances in agriculture – subsidies and corporate exploitation
Moon 2011 (Wanki Moon Department of Agribusiness Economics, Southern Illinois University, Ecological Economics: Volume 71, 15 November 2011, Pages 13–24, “Is agriculture compatible with free trade?”)
Ag destructions is Most likely scenario for war
Future Directions International ’12 (“International Conflict Triggers and Potential Conflict Points Resulting from Food and Water Insecurity Global Food and Water Crises Research Programme”, May 25, http://www.futuredirections.org.au/files/Workshop_Report_-_Intl_Conflict_Triggers_-_May_25.pdf, CMR)
Energy- 1:48
Turn - Military power isn’t key to hegemony – multipolarity is inevitable as the US loses cultural hegemony. The plan’s boost of hard power only spurs adventurism, undermining overall American power
Allenby, 05 (Brad Allenby, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the College of Law at Arizona State University. “High Technology Military Dominance: The Opiate of Modern Empire” November 2005. http://www.cspo.org/ourlibrary/perspectives/Allenby_November2005.htm)
impact - U.S. military aggression causes nuclear terrorism and accidental US-Russian nuclear war
Chomsky, 03 (Noam. Institute Professor emeritus of linguistics and philosophy at MIT. “Failed States.” Pages 14-16)
Plan fails and will be rejected – internal reform is a pre-requisite to investment
Hufbauer & Scott ‘5
Reginald Jones Senior Fellow since ’92, was the Marcus
Wallenberg Professor of Int’l Finance Diplomacy @ Georgetown University, AND Jeffrey J, senior fellow, joined the Inst for Int’l Economic in ’83, visiting lecturer @ Princeton, “NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges”, page number below
no solvency for energy Mexico can’t be a major producer --- too many barriers, lack of interest
Duffy 12
Aimee, “Busting the Myth of Energy Independence”, Aug 28, http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/08/28/busting-the-myth-of-energy-independence/, CMR
Energy independence won’t solve US power or vulnerability
O’Sullivan 13 (Meghan, professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and former deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, ’Energy Independence’ Alone Won’t Boost U.S. Power, Feb 14, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-14/-energy-independence-alone-won-t-boost-u-s-power.html, CMR)
Solvency
Pastor says why Canada should want to do it not that they will follow what the U.S. does. No chance the plan solves – only trilateral cooperation with Canada can ensure successful integration
Pastor 12 – prof and director of the Center for North American Studies @ American
Robert A, Beyond the Continental Divide, July/August, http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1269, CMR
Round 3 tournement
OFF
The plan’s spread of neoliberal market mechanisms by the US is part of a colonial strategy that attempts to control Latin America for the benefit of modernist structures.**Mignolo** 2006 [Walter D. Mignolo, Professor of Cultural Studies at Duke University, Citizenship, Knowledge, and the Limits of Humanity American Literary History 18.2 (2006) 312-331]
Expanding globalization to Cuba is part of an imperial strategy to displace revolutionary potential in Cuba. The outcome of the expansion of globalization is environmental destruction and inequality.
Bliss 2005 (Dr. Susan Bliss: Director of Global Education, 7/5/2005, “Sustainability of Modern Cuba’s post revolution globalisation process”,)
Western conceptions of globalization along with an attempt to rid the world of terrorists have created a vicious cycle by which terrorism becomes inevitable, thus reinforcing fascist violence, and making fundamentalism more prevalent
Shiva 2006 [Vandana, trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, “Globalization, Terrorism and Vicious Cycles of Violence”]
The modus operandi of the affirmative’s economics is the historical drive behind colonization and mass violence against Latin America culminating in wars, violence and genocide in the name of their economic ideals
Escobar 2004 [Arturo, Beyond the Third World: Imperial Globality, Global Coloniality, and Anti-Globalization Social Movements, Third world quarterly 2004. www.nd.edu/~druccio/Escobar.pdf]
The question of this debate is how best to challenge colonial institutions and foreground the lives of marginalized populations – this is an ethical imperative.
Mignolo 2009(Walter Mignolo, 2009, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent thought, and deconlonial freedom, http://waltermignolo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/epistemicdisobedience-2.pdf, Walter Mignolo is a semiotician and Professor at Duke Univeristy, who has published extensively on semiotics and literary theory, and worked on different aspect of the modern and colonial world, exploring concepts such as global coloniality, the geopolitics of knowledge, transmodernity, border thinking, and pluriversality)
Our alternative is to reject the affirmative – when confronted with colonial projects the only ethical response is radical negativity. We are compelled to be disobedient to modernity.
Mignolo 09 [Walter D. Mignolo, Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and Decolonial Freedom, Theory and Culture 2009, published 2009]
On
China
The rest of the Embargo – the plan is only a fractionHanson 13 (Daniel – economics researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, “It's Time For The U.S. To End Its Senseless Embargo Of Cuba”, 1/16, http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/01/16/its-time-for-the-u-s-to-end-its-senseless-embargo-of-cuba/)
Be skeptical of Piccone evidence, it list several different options for actually solving the issue
Dowd evidence is all speculation, actually based on Middle Eastern issues
Taiwan-China relations are high
Cole 12 -- Taipei-based journalist who focuses on military issues in Northeast Asia and in the Taiwan Strait (J. Michael, 9/3, "Taiwan Hedges its Bets on China," http://thediplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2012/09/03/taiwan-hedges-its-bets-against-china/)
Internal link – US-Sino competition risks open conflict
Ellis 6/6/13 – associate professor with the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (R Evan, “China's New Backyard”, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/06/06/china_s_new_backyard_latin_america?page=full, CMR)Environment
No drilling in the squo – all companies have bailed.Mary O'Grady (is a member of the editorial board at The Wall Street Journa) WSJ – April 24, 2013 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324474004578442511561458392.html
Econ
No commercially viable oil in Cuba – companies are backing outGibson 4/14 (William – Washington Bureau, “Companies abandon search for oil in Cuba's deep waters”, 2013, http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-04-14/news/fl-cuban-oil-drilling-retreat-20130414_1_jorge-pi-north-coast-cuban-officials)
Group the entire Terror shell
Gorrell evidence is from 05 since then Cuba has been involved in joint ventures with the US to work against terrorist organizations
Bryan is from 01, relations haven’t improved then and there has not yet been a bioterror attack
Cuba is not a terrorist threat – engaging in peace talks
Williams 5-3-13 (Carol J. Williams, LA Times foreign correspondent for 25 years, Carol J. Williams traveled to and reported from more than 80 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America., “Political Calculus Keeps Cuba on US Terror List”, http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-cuba-us-terror-list-20130502,0,2494970.story)
Globalization creates the conditions for terrorism.
Sloan 2007 (Elinor C., Elinor C. Sloan is Associate Professor of International Relations at Carleton University, Ottawa and a former defence analyst with Canada’s Department of National Defence, Canadian Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, March 2007, “Terrorism in 2025: Likely Dimensions and Attributes”, ITAC, http://www.itac.gc.ca/pblctns/tc_prsnts/2007-3-eng.pdf, accessed 7/9/13, JK)